Life is but an empty dream!

Its been a really long time since i wrote!But this time the excuse is a bit different..The thought to instigate me..to write today is something i see daily!SO here it goes!!!

Come September and its monsoon, exams, holidays... A month which buzzes away with elegance!It was early this month that I got an idea to blog about.A beautiful path from my home to my college! I realised I never noticed few things that were so breathtaking!On a dim Wednesday evening,I was returning from my college...yup... the suburban train it is ppl... totally out of thoughts,exhausted by an excruciating day I sat there like a lifeless entity..gazing towards the lilac sky! Station by station passing by...train running on its music and its own rhythm. The train came to a halt at fruit station as it is called by many.. and thats when i noticed something.. As the train started.. i saw group of people standing in the queue to buy tickets.. yelling.. frighting.. moving forward..there were a group of vendors happily counting their earnings for the day... some distance ahead were a pair of lovebirds(normal scene nowadays u know!)... beyond this a lady on the bench literally involved in a POW WOW(yeah she was screaming ... scolding someone over the phone.. poor guy... oops...might have been a gal.. who knows!)and ya at last.. i had a glimpse of children ..carrying their schoolbags.. cursing the school for making them carry so many books yet enjoying their chocolates(Courtesy:kiosks .. opened at every station except.. ya u guessed right...the stop near my coll!! So coming back to the topic.. the moment i noticed this ... my tiredness disappeared.. and i noticed every station that passed by.. OH gosh.. such a contrast.. few at the pinnacle of happiness..few in the ditch of gloom!And my mind and heart asked only one question... Why .. sometimes.. why do we don't feel satisfied with what we have? Why don't we just stop bothering ourselves about people who bother us!(if that makes sense..)And there was this smirk.. a smile.. a satisfaction(No i don love the letter 'S'..).

The next morning as i was about to climb down the steps at railway station.. i saw a train coming..or should i say a caterpillar.. moving towards its destination.. in a party mood.. And when i climbed in.. i saw a set of familiar faces.. Once again there was this smile.. The train.. thro which i commute everyday... had given me so many people... strangers... friends..rivals.. people who were none of these ..but never forgot to give me a warm smile on seeing me.. Now i thought why din i notice this before? How did these ppl come into my life...Why m i noticing them now.. Why?

Yeah..U GUESSED IT RIGHT.. two conflicting thoughts...One the previous evening ..the other next morning.. What was all this about?? noticing people?? or getting noticed? May be a bit of both..

The next day of college brought another surprise.. My classmates??nop.. friends?? nop.. they were friends IN THE MAKING. It just took a hi.. hey wats up... oh gosh no.. a nod.. to realise something that was missing in my life... A GESTURE.. to show i KNOW and i CARED(arey baba ..not the charity kind.. neither the AMWAY ad kinda thing..Oh god.. u ppl.. watch TV a lot!)Certain things are better unsaid.. few better done..

And as if this wasn't enough.. there was another incident on the train... no no.. not the next day... ten days later... (gosh sounds like MEGA SERIAL... sheeeeash...) I had gone to hostel to do some work..(tame ur horses ppl.. i went for a project work..)On my way home.. after hoppin into the train.. i got a window seat..total bliss when u are wrecking your brain.. ten minutes later... my eyes were filled wit tears... No not happiness.. Wrong again.. Nothing sad... PAIN.. someone was pulling my hair clip...gosh.. and when i turned to see who the hell it was... Guess wat...A SMILE.. flushing the anger away... It was a lil gal.. just like a princess.. happily playing with everyone on train.. smiling at everyone.. waving... beautiful feeling.. when u encounter something this aura..i was light at heart when i got down at my destination..

REFRESHED FROM TOP TO TOE..
THOUGHT PROCESS SHUT DOWN..
Humming a single line.. "tell me not in mournful numbers, life is but an empty dream"

I WONT..
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL...

Take care n keep smiling :)

The SKY is falling!Chicken little??

Yeah,Thats de exact expression on my mind(the title of the blog) when i first read de title of the book!As i mentioned in my previous blog,i m jus a beginner[:)]..... This time i decided i would read the book in proper order(only those who have read de previous blog would be able to relate to this line!)!

The first thing that struck me was the blood red cover wit a damsel's pic on the cover... followed by the comments/excerpts of the entire novel!(it was a really small novel).... was good...when i was jus pondering over my thoughts,i came to know that i love novels that have a pacy plot!And so my obvious choice was adventure and revenge(in short action..kazaaam kaboom kind..lik a roller coaster ride)... the nail biting anticlimax,a sudden flip pertinent to few words in first chapter( think m becomin sort of melodramatic..but hey come on... it adds to de effects[:P])

So wit al due respect, i opened the first page.... whoa whoa.. ( u can understand wat i mean.. u don? oh come on.. it means that i don remember the lines yet remember the expression i had! got it... lets move on)..

So the first thing.. i encountered was the WOMEN POWER ...DANA EVANS(Barkha dutt's American version).. the protagonist! The first chapter had a strange element, a dream a hallucination..(go read it!)..and now comes the love interest of MISS D... JEFF..and the apple of her eye..KEMAL...and a happy family(WTE broadcastin channel... i suppose..)

An unexpected turn,eventually makes Miss D transfigure into SHERLOCK HOLMES..(god i dunno why.. cant she be happy wit her TRPs and supper??)...She goes hunting for clues... evidences...anythin that would quench her detective thirst... and gets involved into something messsy... reallly messy... and this is when Mr.R and his wife Mrs.P come to her rescue... yeah,...good things happen to good people... (Human tendency... after seein so many movies.. yeah it sounds lik a cliche!)

Slowly the story unfolds... from U.S to France to Russia( what is it? season for world tour?)and now comes the unexpected reverse loop to de plot...(i leave the responsibility to the readers...to find out wat the twist is....I think the shrewd percentage of the mob would find out wat the twist would be way b4 it comes into light!)

This is when everything begins to make sense.. this is when the vulnerable side of the protagonist comes into picture.. this is when the proverb"TO ERR IS HUMAN" is personified!!!

Finally.. the real sense of the entire plot... comes into existence.. the pathos.. the drama... the tarzanian action... the hitech rescue.. ZIP ZAP ZOOM... and suddenly there is a calm,serene,lovely scene... the last leg of the novel...

There are far many more characters involved in this masterpiece which owes its success to them!!It took me around 14hours to finish the entire thing..and i was left with a strange feeling inside..

I KNOW I HAVE LEFT ALMOST ALL THE DETAILS INCOMPLETE.....

I WANT THE READERS TO ENJOY THE FLAVOR I EXPERIENCED!!!

Hail ho..sidney sheldon!hail ho..miss D!

I Hope i havent disappointed anyone...tried my level best not to reveal the story!!(:))

Keep reading till the next blog..and if possible suggest a few good books that wud be worth readin and reviewin!!!!!]

TC... until de next blog

Pi=3.14!

Long time since i wanted to read a good book or rather a book at that!the last book i read was ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coehelo.This is enough to prove that i aint a passionate book reader,a hungry bookworm or anythin tat even relates the book!But as everyone say..there is a beginning to everything,i read a book.Well, it wasn the ultimate intention to read the book..It was the fact that i had so much of useless time.. u knw!( i bet evryone does!)I had already read the prologue some six months back... Thank god i din try readin it again.. else i wud have met the same end of not readin the book(AGAIN).

So i jus thought it would be nice to write what i felt while readin it(i aint a swift readin buff.. i read line by line!)

The first thing tat struck me right away was the name of the book "LIFE OF PI".Oh god,pi=3.14... not a mathematical biography please!Who is bothered abt the Alphas Betas and Pis..All r the same confusin symbols in greek!However,you knw about the GUT feeling of humans... yeah yeah..so i opened the book when i was at the peak of boredom!It read part one 'TORONTO AND PONDICHERRY' sounds weird.. created curiosity!Thinkin how totally two different places could be related i started...
The first few chapters had a brief description of the protagonist's Majors at University of Toronto and his Thesis( So now i knew the topic made sense..and the protagonist was a HE..fair enuf.. but the 'Pi' part and the pondicherry part still running at the back of my mind!).Half n hour later i was readin chapter2..ITALICS .. took me sometime to understand tat Italic font refers to the author's way of talkie talkie!the other font was de story part...and suddenly i read a line "I WAS NAMED AFTER A SWIMMING POOL"... thats when my mind went...gee not bad.. there is sum stuff..go ahead.. u wud love it!!So the entire story went on n on and i found the answers for the other two questions...(pi=piscine molitor patel( the hero) n pondicherry ..his native)..now if u are thinkin why such a weird name... try readin de book(come on u don expect me to tell de entire story)!Believe me.. i loved the way how"PI" came into existence and the lil lil in incidents!!

By this time u wud have guessed that i totally fell in love with the book.. so i paced up and read on and on...it was a total surprise..the metamorphosis of the weak beginning into a solid work was such a feast to the eyes!!totally unrelated stuff weaved together in a systematic way..from PI to zoo to the H-I-C( guess wat it is? Hinduism,Islam,Christianity) I was so moved and touched emotionally..so i concluded.. I M GONNA FINISH THIS BOOK!So i read on.. the intricate details of the beach,the animals,the zoo keepers,the prayers...gosh it was lik i cud feel life flowing thro me( well i told u .. i wasn a bookworm and this new experience totally took me aboard!..M so sorry i aint disclosing any more details.. i cant and i shouldn)

on n on... i went on..for i felt the peace inside on readin it.Finally it was PART 2.. 'THE PACIFIC OCEAN'.. i was lik wat next..ANTARTICA,ANDROMEDA.. hmmm..first line struck me lik a thunderbolt..'THE SHIP SANK"(What the hell.. how can the ship sink out of nowhere!)..i continued..it was only pi and Richard Parker(R.P) al over..(two human beings wat big deal!) and it was after few pages that i learnt..R.P was a fully grown BENGAL TIGER(as pi said.. i felt a cold tingle goin up and down my spine...for i visualized evrythin written...my mind..cant do anythin abt it) and followin this was de entire story of how and why the ship sank and wat happened next(of course u can expect the dreadful existence and stuff lik tat)..It was indeed very boring sometimes... yet whenevr there was an element of boredom..a part fully mysterious came by..something i least expected was a ring master show on the life boat!so my mind was pushed further ...to read it..

Few parts involved a miniZoo on the lifeboat( u wud knw abt the residents if u read the back cover)....followed by life saving discoveries on board!beyond this...the PI character was so irritatin... god so many questions..(I was lik..OH MY..if he isn killed on de boat..he wud have definitely died of brain hemorrage...wat on earth is this guy's problem.. come on..die!)It was at this point the Oil ship came into picture.. followed by a big trash in the middle of the ocean and weird things happening on the Island( u wud be thinkin ... this guy reached the island so he was safe.. lived happily ever after..thats wat i thot.. i had around 60-80 pages left... so u knw it wasn the end...at this point.. i jus wanted to know the endin.. my mind and conscience fightin.. mind said read the last few pages and get over it... my conscience said..NOT FAIR..IF U WANNA ENJOY THE BOOK READ IT PROPERLY..come on now be a good gal and continue readin!..ultimately..It was CONSCIENCE(pl ppl.. now dun comment that mind and conscience are the same..))this was when the storm hit the seas..and the other castaway appearin out of nowhere..still m suspicious abt it..so i went on readin abt meerkats,the freshwater ponds and the tasty algae(sweet on the outside and salty on the inside.. i remembered KRACK JACK ad!) and the bizzare things that made PI abandon the island( it was more of a swamp kind.. so now u knw it wasn the end).... things became dull as usual... i couldn read anymore.. that was when i came across the next line "WHEN I REACHED LAND, MEXICO TO BE EXACT..."(what was he doin ?an all America tour or sumthin?)..it irked me to read further and soon i was on PART 3( began from chapter 95..with a topic..BENITO JUDREZ INFIRMARY,TOMATLAN,MEXICO)wow! was the expression with which i was left once i finished it...three characters..Mr.O,Mr.P(pi) and Mr.C.. totally... hilarious twists..with element of reality ,imagination n the ability of human to believe in something!!and thats when i reached the 426th page.. jus two more pages and it wud be over!yeah i finally finished the book.. left with the want to read more.. i nvr wanted the book to get over!

So what next.. i read the Prologue..finally.. and now it made some sense to me..i cud understand how and why this book came into existence(from the cover page..the short review excerpts from the leading journals and papers and YANN MARTEL..(The author,writter,the funny guy) his 'bamboozle'.. and as Mr.Adirubasamy said... It was a story that made me believe in God(more)!!

It took me two days..around 10 hours per day to finish this book..I would say...if u miss this u are missin sumthin in life..WORTH READING..on a more professional note(for a beginner like me)On a scale of 10... i would give it 8.5 on the whole with the plot and the presentation scorin a 9!( i aint an adept and the ratings are bound to change with the reader!)
No wonder it won THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2002

ENJOY READIN.. TC..until the next blog!

THINKING SOMETHIN? STOP BY FOR A SECOND!

Of all the things that baffle me a lot ,there is a single trait of human being that leaves me completely awestruck!'THE ABILITY TO LEARN and IMPROVE eventually 'is wat i m talking about!When i probed into this topic deeper... i found something bizarre... all the things have this trait(be it living or non living!)As it is said everything has its positives and negatives , this particular attribute too has more of grey shades than colorful ones (i ain't talking abt the impact they create ...its just the numbers... its easy to get into a bad habit and company u know..like that!).
So, let me now throw the limelight onto the most vibrant side of it!
From the day this universe originated...its been under constant changes..the BIG BANG.. followed by stars, planets, unicellular life to a complex form (Humans occupying the top slot..as of now..)..the development of a civilization which eventually became a history and a new headstart to another group in a totally different scenario.. the sequence of finding abt our ancestors.. the development of so called technology and now finally it has zeroed in on the sustainable development(ya ya.. high sounding terms.. it means growing and not affecting mother nature ..in simple words) .Does this leave u surprised?? well this is jus a preview of how each and everything is trying to grow..learn and in turn grow again..(Survival of the fittest u see!... din know how Charles Darwin cud understand... may be a thought process again!)YES!The best things that this world has seen from the civilized ppl , airplanes,Hubble telescope, charity and whatever pops into ur mind roots down to the THOUGHT PROCESS!
Having sketched an image abt the good... let me flip the coin to understand the darker side of it!!
I begin wit few dumb questions... if the universe started wit a big bang and is ever developing,why shud it have black holes?if planets were carved to support evolution..why is there only one earth in this entire milky way?if the civilization were to become extinct without any descendants.. why shud they be created in the first place? !!!(Answers?? u have em..do tell me)The sixth sense as ppl say... has more of ill effects!hadn't it been for the so called sixth sense... there wont be borders on earth,there wont be a superpower or the fear of bombs,there wont be global warming nor would people face situations like srilankan war,mumbai terror attack or the afghani rebel!The thinking of "ME first ,REST next" has always led to such a situation..and the damage done is so intense and irreversible that people have got used to it! Let me put forth another instance to emphasize upon my stand.... why should there be poverty?( people not knowing how to earn money? or not being let to do tat?) why are the cases of theft and rapes ever increasing?(have our elders made a mistake by creating laws? or should we blame the society for inculcating this thought in the individual?...for i know.. no one is a born criminal)Shiftin my focus now...... putting forth personal questions almost everyone would have asked but wudn wanna answer!why did sumone BETRAY me?why din i tell the TRUTH to them? Why are people jealous of me?Have i ever tried understandin anyone the way i want them to understand me??!(few answers true to heart might leave us guilty!)
Indeed this topic is debatable and its one of the reasons why i chose to blog on it!
having tried listin the pros and cons of this (an abstract..dumb..senseless or watevr u call it) topic..i have a weird conclusion..that pops into my mind.. i have gathered my thoughts below and have added the conclusion to it!
Evnthough there are bad ppl,killings and bla bla... the world s still alive..when few kill,many stand by others and save them..inspite of extinction there is evolution,new stars are created while few are engulfed by the black hole!!
According to me... although the evil outnumbers the good.. the effect that the good thoughts create are far from bein compared wit the bad side!(be it the thought process of human or Mother nature!)Try analyzing where u stand... for its us..the present generation that has to take up the responsibility of making the society a better place to live in!JAI HO!


(note: no personal references have been made here..i apologise if i have struck a wrong chord! any scrutiny and suggestions are always welcome!)